Thursday, October 29, 2009

Years ago, I would never have been able to pronounce the title, "Los Peces en el Rio" let alone sing a whole song by that name - in Spanish! Yet, we just did, thanks to the help of Tina (Banina), Diana (Ariss), Erica A., Vicki P. and all my "kids" in Paramount, CA. The song is coming out on a LONG overdue "Winter Sampler" which is going straight to digital (iTunes, Amazon, etc.)

We just finished up recording 3 songs - we were shooting for 4, but ran out of time. The sampler will still be a 4-pack though, and will include "Ave Maria", "O Come O Come Emmanuel", "Los Peces en el Rio" and our previously released Christmas single, "I am a Carpenter." The cool thing is that because of the way digital sales work, a person can buy a single or the whole sampler (brings me back to the days of 45's and 33's - yes, I was alive way back then ;) ) and even be able to listen to a portion of the songs before buying them! Halleluia!!! Gone are the days of buying a whole flippin' CD, having heard one good song on the radio, then bringing home the CD, poppin' it in the stereo and the rest of the album stinks. It's about time!

Next year, once we are done recording 5 more Christmas songs, if we do release it on a CD, it will all be based on demand,and limited runs. So let us know if the demand is there, cuz we're listening. In the meantime, fire up those iPods - and get ready to sing along - in Spanish, Latin and English. :)

Follow us in the studio on twitter http://www.twitter.com/CherGeneKlosner

Saturday, October 10, 2009

So, we're going back into the recording studio Monday - can't wait!! We decided to document the whole recording process, so you can feel like you are right there in the studio with your buds, Cher & Gene Klosner! :)

Just to give you some updates - Stardust is doing well, but I'm itchin' for a sale!! Anyone ready for a sale? :) More on that later on in the week.

Recording - we have already done the prep work - chosen the songs, chosen the instruments we want to use on each song, booked the studio, and lined up the musicians. The biggest change going into this is that we are looking at this as a non-CD project! We are recording these with the intention of putting them straight up on to iTunes, with out a physical product. That is really strange for us, but is it ever exciting!

Being independent artists and owners of a small label, one of the biggest hurdles is coming up with the capital to fund the recording. The normal process is we record a project, then pay the expenses of the recording from CD sales. The expenses for a good quality project, include studio time, musicians' fees, royalties paid out, (if you were not the songwriter) distribution of the CD, distributors's and the store's cut, and, one of the biggest expenses, the artwork, manufacturing and duplication of the physical CD's.

What is so cool about the way the music industry is changing, is that CD's are becoming a thing of the past. It's not the coolest thing for a record store or a honkin' record label, but for small labels like us, going straight to iTunes and other digital distribution sites("digital stores"), like CDBAby, Amazon, allows us to get into the studio regularly, a song at a time, and have something for you in a matter of weeks instead of what used to take years to complete and deliver.